AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott met with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
According to the governor’s press secretary, the two discussed border security and immigration enforcement in a private meeting. He also met with Border Czar Tom Homan at some point on Wednesday.
It is the second time the two have met since Trump returned to the White House on Jan. 20.
The meeting comes as the governor recently asked the federal government to reimburse the state $11 billion it has spent on Operation Lone Star, a border security initiative started by Abbott in 2021 as an effort to curb illegal immigration in Texas. The state shares a 1,254-mile long border with Mexico, by far the most of any state in the country.
Following the meeting, Abbott said the state will continue to do whatever it can to assist the Trump administration in its border security efforts and provided updates on where Texas stands on immigration enforcement and personnel.
“Texas has completed more than 50 miles of border wall. We’re going to be adding another, about 20 miles of border wall here in the coming days – it’s under construction right now,” Abbott said, providing an update on the border wall Trump wants to construct along the border. “Texas built two military bases that can house 2,000 soldiers in one base, 400 soldiers in another base. We have 4,000 jail cells in the state of Texas that can be used as detention facilities, so we’re just continuing to find ways to assist the Trump administration in finally securing our border.”
In a speech, Trump vowed to help Texas build additional pieces of the wall and send military personnel to help with enforcement.